On September 25, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order clearing the way for a U.S.-led takeover of TikTok’s American operations, a decisive move that puts national security and American sovereignty first. For years conservatives warned that foreign-controlled apps were harvesting data and shaping culture; this action finally forces a real solution instead of lip service.
The blueprint announced hands a controlling stake in TikTok U.S. to a consortium that includes Oracle and private-equity firm Silver Lake, alongside the Abu Dhabi-based MGX fund, while ByteDance would be reduced to a minority holding valued at under 20 percent; Vice President J.D. Vance pegged the U.S. business at roughly $14 billion. This restructuring, imperfect as it may be, answers the legal requirement to sever foreign control and keeps the platform available to Americans under American oversight.
Oracle has been tapped to handle the app’s security and cloud operations and will play a central role in retraining and monitoring the recommendation algorithm — exactly the kind of technical guardrails conservatives have demanded to prevent foreign influence. Putting an American tech heavyweight in charge of infrastructure sends a clear signal that national-security protections are no longer optional.
That said, this deal is not a blank check. ByteDance has not formally acknowledged the transaction and Chinese approval remains a major unknown, even as the White House says it secured informal assent from Xi during talks. We should be wary of backroom arrangements and insist on transparency so the American people know who truly controls their data.
Conservatives should cheer the administration for acting where the previous regime stalled, but cheering must be paired with vigilance. The $14 billion valuation looks low to some observers, and the involvement of foreign capital and big private-equity players raises legitimate questions about influence, valuation fairness, and whether ordinary Americans’ interests are being sold short.
One especially uncomfortable truth is the presence of MGX, the Abu Dhabi investment arm, among the notable investors — a reminder that “American ownership” can sometimes mean complicated international money flowing through opaque channels. Republicans must demand real guardrails and congressional oversight to ensure this isn’t a swap of one foreign influence for another under a different flag.
There’s a 120-day clock now for the parties to close the deal, and conservatives should use that window to press for independent audits, firm commitments that algorithms will be transparent and unbiased, and a strict firewall protecting American user data. This is a moment to convert righteous outrage into concrete wins: secure data, protected children, and an American tech environment that serves our values rather than undermines them.
